1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device and power converter equipment having the semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
Inverter apparatuses and power supply apparatuses used in low power capacity power conversion equipment are provided with switching elements such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).
Recently, driving circuits for the switching elements widely use a high voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) that serves the level shift function for driving the switching element in a high voltage side by an input signal from a low voltage side.
An example of circuit construction having switching elements is a bridge circuit composed of series-connected switching elements for driving a load.
The bridge circuit has a series connection of a switching element in the high voltage side and a switching element in the low voltage side. A load is connected at the middle potential point between the two switching elements. The switching element in the high potential side and the switching element in the low potential side are driven on different base potentials.
Two technologies have been conventionally proposed. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a level shift circuit uses a high withstand voltage MOSFET with reduced parasitic capacitance. Patent Document 2 discloses a high withstand voltage output circuit that avoids malfunction during a maintaining period such as plasma display in the process of power supply voltage rising up.